Anna mulled it over.
“I only have three days of teaching; the rest of the time I could work from home. It would certainly be a change from living just across the river from the faculty, though.”
She paused.
“Is that why you brought me up here? Is there a house for sale in the area?”
“You could say that. There’s a parcel of land.”
“Where?”
“You’re standing on it,” he murmured, and she stepped away to turn around and get a better look.
She faced him again with excited eyes.
“All of this?”
Ryan nodded.
“It’s almost three acres in total,” he told her, pointing toward the gate. “From there, it includes the land reaching to the hedgerows on three sides, and down to the edge of the hill.”
Anna pressed her hand to her mouth, already imagining what could be built.
“It’s not agricultural land?”
“No, I’ve already spoken to the planning office,” he assured her, and almost added that he already had planning permission approved in principle. “You like it, then?”
She laughed.
“Like it? I love it!” But as soon as the words left her lips, her face fell again. “I suppose it’s very expensive, though.”
Ryan could have kissed her and, in another moment, he would. It was hardly a regular topic of conversation but she was aware of his family history and the privileged childhood he had enjoyed. What she didn’t know was the extent of the legacy left to him by his maternal grandmother, which could have allowed him never to work again.
But that wasn’t his way.
It was almost embarrassing to admit to that kind of good fortune and he hardly touched it other than to check the status of the various philanthropic ventures he’d set in motion over ten years ago. He’d used the money only three times for his own personal use: once, to fund his police cadet training in London; the second time, to purchase his first and only property on the Quayside in Newcastle, which was now lying vacant; and thirdly, to purchase the parcel of land they now stood on.
He looked across at the woman he loved.
“It’s yours,” he told her.
Anna thought she had misheard him.
“What do you mean?”
“I found it months ago,” he admitted. “Long before the fire in Durham. The sale went through six weeks ago and the title is in your name. I always planned to give it to you as a wedding present and I hoped that we could build something here, together. For ourselves and, one day, maybe, our children.”
She felt tears burn the back of her eyes and she looked away, out across the hills. Her breath started to hitch and she put a hand to her stomach to settle it, so she could find the right words.
Her eyes were brilliant when she looked at him again.
“I don’t know what to say or how to tell you what I’m feeling.”
Her lips trembled and he made as if to step forward but she held him off, just for another moment.
“I want you to know that I don’t need anything like this,” she swept an arm out to encompass the land. “I love you for everything you are, not everything you have.”
He reached out to touch her hair.
“I know that.”
“Good. I couldn’t stand it if you thought otherwise.”
The thought of Anna being a gold-digger was so ridiculous, he almost laughed.
“I can always put it up for sale, if you don’t want it?”
She turned on him with horrified eyes and, catching the mirth dancing on his face, launched herself at him.
“Thank you,” she said and kissed him.
There on the brow of the hill, they planned the house they would build. It would have floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides so they could enjoy the view of the countryside they both loved. They spoke of the little village community and of the friends they hoped to make and of the walks they could take over the moors and in the National Park.
“I only have one request,” Ryan said, as they finally made their way home.
Anna slanted him a look.
“You want a hot tub, don’t you?”
“Got it in one.”
*
Their excitement was interrupted not long afterward by a call from Phillips. “Got a minute?”
“I’ve got several,” Ryan said, using the hands-free function as he drove back to Cragside. “What’s up?”
“I reckon we’ve had a bit of a breakthrough,” Phillips said, his voice crackling through the car speakers. “Lowerson’s just come off the phone to the telephone company. They checked the records from Victor Swann’s mobile phone and they’ve confirmed it was last transmitting at 18:54 on Saturday night, after which there was nothing.”
“How accurate is the radius?”
“There’s a mast in the grounds at Cragside so they’ve been able to triangulate to within fifty metres and we think the phone was last active within the house. But that’s not all,” Phillips said. “Lowerson’s pushing through the paperwork so they can release the text messages they’ve got recorded on their system.”
“How soon until they can get them through to us?”
“You know what these companies are like,” Phillips groused. “It’s all ‘computer says no’ and on the dot of five they’re off shift. The compliance officer we need to get hold of works flexi-hours and he won’t be back on until seven a.m. tomorrow.”
“At which time, I want you to be ready and waiting to breathe down his neck.”
“More than happy to,” his sergeant replied.
“Any word on DNA?”
“They’re going as fast as they can.”
Ryan slowed the car for the turn into Cragside estate and nearly collided with Henderson’s vehicle as it zoomed down the narrow road. He performed an emergency stop, swore volubly and watched the estate manager’s tail lights disappear in his rear-view mirror.
“Hello?” At the other end of the line, Phillips winced as the air turned blue.
“Sorry Frank, that wasn’t directed at you,” Ryan said. “How about finances?”
“Yates has pulled an absolute blinder,” Phillips said proudly. “She’s been working with the team in FIU all afternoon and they’ve managed to get the records on Martin Henderson. He’s got three SARs marked on the system for suspiciously large purchases made in cash.”
“What for?”
“The deposit for his car, for one thing. I don’t know what kind of magic that lass has up her sleeve but the compliance officer at Henderson’s bank expedited the account monitoring order and it took effect just before six o’clock. We’ve been waiting for them to feed us some of the data and it’s just come through for the past week, to begin with.”
“And?” Ryan wasn’t one to waste words.
“Henderson made a large withdrawal last week, which roughly matches the amount paid into Victor Swann’s current account shortly afterward.”
They had arrived outside the rental cottage but Ryan and Anna remained seated in the car until the conversation ended.
“Frank? Tell the lab to put a rush on testing the DNA sample belonging to Martin Henderson.”
“MacKenzie’s already told them to do that very thing.”
Ryan smiled appreciatively.